Ellen's San Francisco Treat

Tip for Living Small with Kids: We only keep/buy cute toys because they are kept in the living room in a box (or in the middle of the floor). We don't have any ugly plastic stuff except for the $5 Walgreens golf clubs which are unfortunately the current favorite.

Biggest Design Challenge in this Room: We live in a Victorian and this room was the fainting room where ladies went to recline and loosen their corsets so they didn't pass out. Prior to Ellen it was an office. The biggest challenge is that it has no closet and is really small so we had to sacrifice the coat closet right outside her room to store outgrown clothes and extra baby things.

Favorite Thing About This Room: We didn't know Ellen was a girl until she was born so we kept the colors neutral. I love the grey trim with the white walls. After she was born we added pink things to make it more girly (I hate to perpetuate gender stereotypes as much as the next person. I love pink though!) Another thing I like is that most things are either passed down (Steiff stuffed animal collection, Sound of Music LP, Grandma's rug) or made by friends (stuffed animals).